Running back tandem sparks Oxford

OXFORD—Paced by a pair of running backs clearing the century mark, Oxford rolled up 358 yards on the ground and limited mistakesin the second half to top visiting Octorara, 35-7, for a homecoming win.

“We’re the first class ever to win three straight homecoming games,”said Hornet running back Colton Turns. “It’s going to make going tothe dance a lot more fun tomorrow.”

Turns finished the night with 113 yards on 14 carries, with onetouchdown run of 11 yards. The quick and elusive Turns broke fourdifferent runs for 15 or more yards, buthe wasn’t even theleading rusher on his own team.

Musty Mahmud returned to action Friday night after missing severalgames with an injury. Mahmud showed the form that made him theHornets’ leading rusher last season, piling up 122 yards and atouchdown on 16 carries.

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“I think we are one of the best running back duos in the Ches-Mont,”said Turns. “It’s our goal everytime we get to step on the fieldtogether to each get a hundred yards and a touchdown. If we’re firingon all cylinders, it takes a load off the coaches, and takes thepressure off (quarterback) Ethan (Herb).”

Having both backs on the field is a luxury coach Mike Pietlock relishes.

“They complement each other very well,” said Pietlock. “When we havethem both healthy, it makes things very tough on a defense, becausethey can’t key on just one of them.That showed at the start of thesecond half when Colton broke the counter on the first play, and thenwas running lead on Musty’s big gain the next play.”

But possibly even more important for Oxford was the cutting down ofturnovers in the second half. Despite holding a significantstatistical advantage over the first half, the Hornets only took a 7-0lead into the break, thanks mainly to three turnovers.

“We’re a danger to ourselves sometimes,” said Pietlock. “It’s just amatter of which team is going to show up. Fortunately, we cleaned itup a bit in the second half.”

The result was a 21-point third period that broke up a game that wasclose on the scoreboard to that point.

“Oxford made some mistakes in the first half to give us someopportunities,” said Octorara coach Jed King. “But we simply didn’texecute well enough to take advantage of them.Oxford has two verygood backs, and they came out and executed in the second half, and wejust didn’t.”

The game’s leading rusher was one of King’s Braves. Quarterback AlexGooden led all rushers with 145 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

“He’s a weapon, that for sure,” said King of Gooden. “He just makesstuff happen. And he’s become a leader, too, stepping in and calmingthings down when some of our guys were getting a little chippy.”Gooden also threw for 101 yards, but was picked off three times as well.

“Coach Pietlock really got us motivated at half time,” said Turns. “Wecame out in the second half, motivated, and just had fun. When you’rehaving fun, good things happen.”

Up next for the Hornets is a divisional battle with Rustin.

“If we put together four good quarters of football, we’re going to betough to beat,” said Pietlock.